Arrows pushed to brink before rally

Top-ranked St. Ursula still unbeaten

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS — It’s not often in real life that you get a chance to hit the reset button, like in a video game, and turn something bad into something great.

With their previously perfect volleyball season seemingly spoiled by Chagrin Falls Kenston Wednesday night, the top-ranked St. Ursula Arrows (27-0) got an opportunity to do just that.

And — thanks to a favorable but correct officials’ call — they turned the agony of defeat into the thrill of victory in a roller-coaster 25-14, 17-25, 20-25, 25-11, 20-18 win in a riveting two-hour Division I regional semifinal played at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School.

“It couldn’t top the state semifinals in 2004, but that one couldn’t be much more than this,” Arrows coach John Buck said when asked if this was the best match of his career at St. Ursula. “The girls played really well.

“We faltered in the middle of that match, but we told them after the third game that every great team has a defining moment. This needed to be theirs. They dug down deep and worked very hard to win that match.”

With the Bombers up 15-14 in the deciding fifth game, Kenston’s Emily Newell, slapped down what appeared to be the finishing blow of a major upset.

But, as the momentarily jubilant Bombers celebrated their conquest, and the stunned Arrows seemed destined for tears, Newell’s kill attempt was ruled a carry.

“We were screaming that it was a throw, which is an illegal hit,” Buck said. “She [the official] called it right away but, oh my gosh, it could have easily went the other way. If she swings and hits that instead of carrying it, the match is over.”

Instead of 16-14 and game over, it was instead a 15-15 tie and the Arrows used the 11th-hour reprieve to advance to Saturday’s 1 p.m. regional final here against Strongsville.